Augmentation
by shuang-zhaohui
Summary: Rogue had always considered her powers a disease so when the Cure was announced it seemed a clear decision to go and take it that is until she was standing in line outside the clinic. Alternate path for X-Men 3.
1. Chapter 1: The Cure

**Chapter 1 : The Cure**

_Say no to the cure!_

_We don't need to be cured!_

_You mutie freaks!_

_You should all die!_

Rogue shifted nervously as she stood in line. The chants of both mutants protesting against the cure and of humans telling mutants to go in and get cured were deafening. Those mutants standing in line were filled with the same nervous and scared energy she felt filled with she was sure. The woman in front of her turned to look back at her

"They don't get it"

Startled Rogue looked at her "Excuse me?" surprised that this woman was actually talking when everyone in lined was either standing stoically looking ahead, hiding beneath hoodies that disguised who they were or nervously shifting their weight as they waited their turn and did their best to ignore the protesters.

"They don't get it, what it like not being able to control your own power, the ones protesting. I doubt a single one of them can't control it." Rogue shifted as the woman's words struck a nerve within her.

"Wha..." Rogue stopped to lick her dry lips "What's your powah?"

The woman glanced at her, assessing her it seemed "I...I have bone projectiles..." The woman trails off and looks at Rogue there's a sadness there in her eyes that Rogue recognizes. The pain of having hurt someone you care for.

"Ah...mah skin it's poisonous...I mean when I touch others I absorb their memories and powers if they're mutants knocks them put." The woman looks at her shocked.

"Oh honey...that..." the woman trails off obviously no idea what to say to the young woman standing next to her and instead only sends a pitying look at her.

The two women fall silent and shuffle forward as several more people enter the clinic and the line moves forward. Rogue shifts a part of her wishing that the line was moving faster and yet another part of her is wishing that someone, that anyone from the mansion would show up. That they would she her and storm up, then shake her demanding to know what she was doing and then drag her from here. Away from the hateful slurs that are being shouted from the two opposing picket lines, away from the fears, doubts and uncertainties plaguing her mind.

The woman taps Rogue on the shoulder, startled she looks up at her.

"Lines moving up sweetie." With that the woman shuffles forward, as Rogue follows slowly behind her. Taking a deep breath Rogue looks around her companion to see how many more people remain in between her and the guarded doorway. There are only four more people, excluding the woman in front of her, between Rogue and her turn to take the cure. Nervous fear wells up in her belly stronger than before causing her to take a few deep breaths to quell the feelings of nausea that coil within her.

The line moved forward again, and Rogue knows she has to make a decision now. Yes she made a decision when she left the mansion to come here, but she hasn't gone all the way through yet and there's still time she knows to change her mind. In the back of her mind she remembers Storm telling her that there was nothing wrong with her that her mutation wasn't a disease and some part of her is holding onto that. As long as Rogue can remember since the development of her mutation she hadn't been able not to regard it as a disease. None of the others really got it just how important touch really was. They took it for granted, they took being able to go swimming in a regular bathing suit during in the middle of the day with their friends for granted, and it angered and hurt Rogue that she didn't and possibly never would have that.

"I hope things work out for you sweetie." With that the woman in front of her entered the doorway and went into the darkness of the building. The door shut behind her with a heavy thud and with that Rogue knew.

Standing up straight she hiked her bag onto her back, and ignored the guard who was telling her that it was her turn now. Rogue turned away from him and she did the world exploded in flames and glass.

Frightened Rogue dropped to the ground, as did everyone else in line, she could hear the crowds screaming and dimly Rogue was aware of people scattering, or colliding in fists and blood. Gasping Rogue berated herself was she or was she not an X-Man or well X-Woman? Getting into a crouching position she got her bearings from the best she could tell someone from one of the sides had decided to throw some Molotov cocktails into the crowd. The two groups of protesters were fighting while innocent bystanders or mutants who had been in line for the Cure scattered. There were police officers trying rather ineffectively to calm things down as the street became alight with flames. Rogue looked around a few cars were on fire and there were definitely bodies on the ground.

"Hey you mutie freak!" A man yelled from somewhere to her right.

Rogue screamed in pain as the brick she assumed he'd thrown hit her shoulder. Whirling around her eyes widened as she took in the rather tall and muscular man that stood sneering down at her. Instincts kicking in she began backing up only to feel herself back up into the wall of the Cure clinic. The man laughed then called out.

"I got one cornered." Immediately several more men broke away from larger conflict taking place only a few metres away and joined the man in front of her.

"We're gonna do ya a favour you freak, we're gonna put you out of ya misery." One of the men slurred.

Laughing and jeering at her the men drew back their arms and Rogue barely had time to put her arms up to defend her head as more bricks were thrown at her. She never saw the bat being swung at her head until it was too late. Stunned Rogue dropped to the ground and quickly the men surrounded her continuing to strike at her with their fists, boots. Rogue struggled but only managed to get one good kick in before a sharp pain went through her leg as someone brought what was probably the bat down onto it. Screaming Rogue could feel blood filling her mouth as she bit her tongue at some point. No matter where she turned and how many hits she tried to throw none got her attackers off.

_Oh god please someone please help me!_

_It hurts please make it stop._

_I don't wanna be here, I just wanna be somewhere safe!_

Then in a cloud of blue smoke Rogue disappeared. Leaving behind a group of rather startled men and a fire filled street.


	2. Chapter 2: Church

A/N: At this point in the story things start to become Alternate Universe/Timeline. I am going to be changing things from the sequence of events in the movie to make them work with what I would like to have happen. Just so that everyone is forewarned.

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**Chapter 2: Church**

The first thing Rogue became aware when she started coming to was coolness of stone floors that she was laying face down upon. Groaning Rogue pushed herself into sitting up; looking around herself she tried to make sense of where she was. It seemed to be an abandoned church from what she could tell from her surroundings, there were knocked over pews and beautiful stained glass windows that had been boarded over.

_Where am I?_

Rogue shook her head the last thing she remembered was being pinned to the ground by the fists and boots of the men beating her. But that had been on the chaos filled street beside the clinic not wherever this was. Standing up she couldn't shake the sense that in some way this place was familiar to her. She spotted her bag lying on the floor and she moved as quickly as her sore body would allow over to it.

Kneeling down she opened the duffle bag up and began ruffling through it, she was pretty sure she had swiped one of the X-Men communicators before she had left just in case. Finally her gloved hand grasped it. Bringing it to her ear she switched it on, impatiently she rocked on her heels as she waited for someone to answer. The seconds stretched into minutes and no one answered, switching the communicator off Rogue stood back up and winced at the pain that shot up her left leg. Slinging her bag across her shoulders, Rogue moved towards the entrance of the church pulling the door open she looked outside. It looked to be early evening out and according to her watch is was just past five, so as long as she hadn't been out for an entire day that meant that she'd only been out for three hours since it had been just before two in the afternoon when it had come her turn in line at the clinic.

Leaving the church Rogue took in her surrounding there was a fence surrounding the church but it looked to be a more rundown area of town where it was she had ended up. It took her a few minutes to scramble over the chain link fence that surrounded the abandoned church and then several more to get her bearings after she walked along the street. None of the street names or the buildings looked familiar to here but she knew that somehow she'd been here before.

_Boston_

A voice in her mind supplied. Rogue shifted she was sure it was one of her psyches that had told her that. Which also raised the question how the hell did she end up in Boston? Because last time she had checked Boston was not exactly close to New York City where she had bussed to take the Cure. Stuck in her thoughts the sound of a car honking from somewhere behind her startled Rogue causing her to cry out as she disappeared.

Coughing as she reappeared in a cloud of sulphurous, blue smoke Rogue looked around she was about fifty metres up the street from where she'd been standing before hand.

_Ok what the hell I can't teleport._

_But I can. _The familiar German accented voice of the mutant known as Nightcrawler echoed loudly in Rogue's mind.

_What the hell, how is this happening then I haven't absorbed you since last year when you saved me. _The memory of the blue teleporter catching her as she fell through the air quickly came to mind. When they had reappeared inside the jet his hand had briefly landed on the back of her neck and she'd absorbed him for less than a minute before he managed to move his hand back down to her shirt. They hadn't told the others instead she'd briefly gone aside with him and explained to him about her powers and had apologized.

_Ja, that is true but those men they were hurting you and you wanted to get away from them the next thing I know I felt a pull and you used mein power. _Kurt's voice supplied.

_What!_ Rogue mentally screamed at the psyche. She'd never been able to re-use a mutant's power once they wore off unless she reabsorbed them. The voices stayed inside her mind permanently and she could communicate with them. In fact sometimes the voices could be rather overwhelming for her with the all chatter if they decided to all start talking at one. She could also look back through their memories if she concentrated hard enough but had often resisted doing that as the psyche's at least those that didn't hate her had told her that oddly enough they felt a tugging sensation when she did that and depending on how long she reviewed the memories it made them feel tired afterwards. A side effect which Rogue had noticed made the voice of whichever psyche whose memories she'd been reviewing seem quieter, more distant afterwards for a while.

Rogue groaned no matter how thankful she was for having been able to miraculously use Kurt's powers to save herself from those men with Scott being missing, assumed dead and the whole thing with Jean Grey returning from the dead, now was really not the most opportune time for her power to be going haywire on her.

_Ok so if I used your powers to get away how the hell did I end up in that church? I thought you had to see where you were going? _Rogue asked Kurt as she continued walking down the street.

_I do perhaps you are not held by the same limitations as I am? However I been able teleport farther distances if I have a very clear picture in my mind on where I am going if I've been there before._

_But I've never been to that place before? And why Boston? Why not back to the mansion?_

_But I have! _Kurt's mental voice had the tone as if the psyche had just had a eureka moment.

_Uh? Mind sharing with me?_

_That church was a safe haven for me it is where Storm and Jean found me so perhaps because you wanted to go somewhere safe and you were using my powers it took you to the place that I considered the safest!_ Kurt's voice was filled with excitement though the voice of his psyche seemed a bit tired.

_Oh...Hmm that would make sense ok I need to get back to the mansion_. Pulling up Bobby's psyche in her mind Rogue used his knowledge of the Boston area to figure out where the nearest transit area was. If Bobby's memories were correct it would take her approximately five and half hours to get back to the mansion with public transit. So she had to get herself moving if she wanted to get back to the mansion before curfew at eleven.

"Hey, Pete you seen Rogue anywhere?" Bobby called to his team mate.

The giant man considered him and then shook his head. "No haven't seen her since they announced the Cure earlier on TV I think she went to talk to Professor Xavier." With the Russian man continued on his path towards the kitchen.

Bobby paled and couldn't help the 'oh crap' that went off inside his head. He really liked Rogue but with Kitty and everything. What was he going to do if it turned out she had taken the Cure for him? Today was not his day he decided. His mind was turning on whether he should go look for Rogue when he heard Kitty call out to him. Turning to face the petite brunette he quickly forgot about his girlfriend as he agreed to go watch a movie with the phaser.

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A/N: For those wondering I got the transit time for Boston to Westchester, NY by using Google maps. Google is amazing has more answers than the bible as one of my friends says. You also may notice that I'm not really typing in the accents the reason for this is that I find sometimes typing in the accents makes things difficult to read plus if you're reading this you've most likely watched the movies so your mind can supply how the sentences would actually sound if they were being spoken by the character.


End file.
